On April 28, 1996, a team of us from HQ 3AF at RAF Mildenhall, UK, flew into Oslo, Norway, and then on to Trondheim, Norway, to attend a NATO exercise planning conference at Orland Main Air Station near Trondheim.

From Trondheim’s airport we drove to the Flakk-Rorvik ferry crossing west of Trondheim – this series of photos shows the cars waiting at the southern ferry terminal west of Trondheim, and our vehicle was the van at the end of the line.

My shadow is visible in the foreground as I took this photo of the cars waiting for the ferry at the ferry terminal, with our rental van at the end of the line – I had never been to Norway before, so this was an exciting trip for me to take to this beautiful country.

Here’s part of our group as we wait for our ferry at the southern ferry terminal – I’m on the right in this photo, dressed for the cool weather – check out the Google Map satellite photo of this beautiful area.

Here’s a second photo of our group with me taking the picture – it was now the end of April in Norway, which was beautiful and mostly snow free where we were to travel, but the air still had the fresh, crispness of spring in it.

My initial impression of Norway was that it was a ruggedly beautiful and pristine country, and outside of populated areas the land seemed like a vast, unpopulated and stark wilderness.

Here I am on the deck of our ferry, with the breakwater of the southern ferry terminal’s landing area behind me – which is very prominent on the eastern side of the southern terminal’s harbor area in the Google Map satellite photo of the area.

This is a cropped view of the previous photo – I had been to Denmark and Sweden before but this was my first (and only) trip to Norway for two weeks and I was excited for the new adventure.

Here’s another picture of me on the ferry, and it looks like we may have been just underway – check out the rugged, snow covered hills in the distance and the ever changing spring weather in the low clouds overhead.

This is the Welcome to Fosen sign at our northern ferry terminal – the ferry company is called Fosenlinjen AS and their web site is http://www.fosenlinjen.no – you can see Orland on the map, which was a long drive by car from the northern ferry terminal.

Once we arrived in Orland we stayed in this nice hotel in the town of Orland, near Orland Main Air Station where our exercise planning conference was being held – and I spent most of my spare time walking around the town and along the water’s edge taking in the beautiful scenic views.

The outgoing tide exposed the shallow coastal areas near the shoreline as the distant snow covered hills and ridgelines looked like a vast, rugged wilderness across the open water.

The last house on the edge of Orland extended to near the shoreline, and the entire landscape gave me the feeling of the last populated area before setting off as a member of a polar exploration adventure team.

In the town of Orland proper there was a high degree of quaintness and almost coziness to be had, with all of the houses and buildings brightly painted to bring a sense of cheer to the long, dark days of winter.

These houses had a familiar sense of Germany or Denmark to them, and were very modern and well built to withstand the harsh, cold air of winter, and cheerful enough to enjoy the experience – I have at least five more sets of photos of Norway yet to be posted…so stay tuned for more of my adventures in Norway! 🙂

’Life, Love and the Human Condition’ by Mark D. Jones

Welcome to my world! This blog is a place to capture all of the creative areas of my life into one spot that you can visit any time you like, and allow you to pause for a moment during the course of your day. You can see in the "categories section" the many creative interests that I have in my life - which I add to on a regular basis. Join with me in pondering the meaning of, "Life, Love and the Human Condition." So grab a cup of coffee or tea and spend a few minutes with me in my world...you may find it interesting and want to stay awhile! Enjoy!